1971 New Orleans Saints season

1971 New Orleans Saints season
Head coach	J. D. Roberts
General manager	Vic Schwenk
Owner	John W. Mecom, Jr.
Home field	Tulane Stadium
Results
Record	4–8–2
Division place	4th NFC West
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Timeline
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The 1971 New Orleans Saints season was the Saints fifth season. The Saints drafted Archie Manning with their first round pick, the second overall.

Manning led the Saints to their first opening day victory in franchise history, scoring a touchdown run on a rollout on the final play of a 24-20 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. Four weeks later, Manning engineered a 24-14 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, who would return to Tulane Stadium in January and win Super Bowl VI over the Miami Dolphins.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	2	Archie Manning	Quarterback	Mississippi

Personnel

Staff

1971 New Orleans Saints staff
	Front Office President – John W. Mecom, Jr. General Manager – Vic Schwenk Head Coaches Head Coach – J. D. Roberts Assistant Coaches Assistant Coach – Jim Champion Assistant Coach – Marv Matuszak Assistant Coach – Jim Royer Assistant Coach – Ken Shipp Assistant Coach – Charlie Tate Assistant Coach – Bud Whitehead

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 19, 1971	Los Angeles Rams	W 24-20	70,915
2	September 26, 1971	San Francisco 49ers	L 38-20	81,595
3	October 3, 1971	at Houston Oilers	T 13-13	47,966
4	October 10, 1971	at Chicago Bears	L 35-14	55,049
5	October 17, 1971	Dallas Cowboys	W 24-14	83,088
6	October 24, 1971	at Atlanta Falcons	L 28-6	58,850
7	October 31, 1971	at Washington Redskins	L 24-14	53,041
8	November 7, 1971	Oakland Raiders	T 21-21	83,102
9	November 14, 1971	at San Francisco 49ers	W 26-20	45,138
10	November 21, 1971	Minnesota Vikings	L 23-10	83,130
11	November 28, 1971	at Green Bay Packers	W 29-21	48,035
12	December 5, 1971	at Los Angeles Rams	L 45-28	73,610
13	December 12, 1971	Cleveland Browns	L 21-17	72,794
14	December 19, 1971	Atlanta Falcons	L 24-20	75,954

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Rams 0 3 3 14 20 • Saints 0 3 14 7 24 Date: September 19 Location: Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, Louisiana Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 78°F • Wind 5

Scoring summary 2 NO Skip Butler 32 yard field goal Saints 3-0 2 LA David Ray 31 yard field goal Tie 3-3 3 NO Dave Parks 6 yard pass from Archie Manning (Skip Butler kick) Saints 10-3 3 NO Bob Gresham 2 yard run (Skip Butler kick) Saints 17-3 3 LA David Ray 27 yard field goal Saints 17-6 4 LA Les Josephson 29 yard pass from Roman Gabriel (David Ray kick) Saints 17-13 4 LA Les Josephson 1 yard run (David Ray kick) Rams 20-17 4 NO Archie Manning 1 yard run (Skip Butler kick) Saints 24-20

Standings

NFC West
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
San Francisco 49ers	9	5	0	.643	300	216
Los Angeles Rams	8	5	1	.615	313	260
Atlanta Falcons	7	6	1	.538	274	277
New Orleans Saints	4	8	2	.333	266	347

External links

• Saints on Pro Football Reference